When Eighth Street was blocked to traffic between Highway 24 and Colorado Avenue May 18, it marked the first part of an unexpected sewer main replacement
project that is to resume shortly after the Memorial Day weekend and require about two weeks for completion.
On the plus side, the traffic impacts for the upcoming work will be minimal (except for the Midland Trail that crosses Eighth Street), according to Dave Grossman of
Colorado Springs Utilities.
The problem cropped up when Utilities was attempting to put a new liner inside a 1929-vintage, 18-inch-wide pipe as part of its ongoing Sanitary Sewer Evaluation
and Rehabilitation Program (SSERP). In doing so, “we realized that the pipe was in worse shape and more corroded than originally thought,” Grossman said. “We
determined that a section of the pipe had to be replaced.”
The May 18 work was a “temporary repair” that included installation of a bypass along 8th street to keep people in service until the 500-foot-long permanent line is
replaced along the north side of Hwy 24 going east from 8th Street, he said.
Most of the work will be done at night. “There will be a reduced number of lanes at night, but there will be little impact on traffic during the day,” Grossman said.